


Feed Fletch

by TwentyOneEclipses



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Equestrian, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Horseback Riding, Horses, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 13:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14057820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwentyOneEclipses/pseuds/TwentyOneEclipses
Summary: Please, don't forget to feed Fletch.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting a fic here! I worked hard on this, and it was an idea that randomly came to mind. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and if it goes over well, I will continue to update it and add to the story.

It was another early morning for the pair as they both began to practice when the day was cooler. “Ready to practice, old man?” Tyler taunted as he passed Josh on his way out to the pasture, from which Josh was just returning with his horse, Kel.

“Ready as always, kid!” They enjoyed teasing each other about their age, even tho ugh they were only 6 months apart. The scorching summer heat hadn’t yet reached their part of the blue and green rock, as it was still attempting to rise over the horizon. Josh breathed in deep and patted his gelding. “Ready for a workout? Gotta practice trail today, I guess. Show coming up in a month and they added a trail class. I wanted to try it out, what do you say?” He chuckled and then kissed his gelding on the nose, after checking to make sure Tyler wasn’t around. After tying Kel to the wall, Josh began to brush and tack up his horse. 

“Oh, hey,” Tyler began as he walked into the barn with Fletch, “Did you remember to feed him this morning? He seems a little off.” 

Josh rolled his eyes. “Yes, Tyler. I remembered to feed your horse. He’s fine, he just hates the weather as much as we do, look at that mud!” Josh continued to cinch up his saddle, and then fetched his bridle out of the wash bay. 

“The pastures are really getting muddy after that rain last week,” Tyler mentioned as he led Fletch into the arena. His boots were caked with mud, and so were Fletch’s feet. 

“Ha! Look at us. Mud buds!” Josh laughed and pointed at their feet. 

As the day continued, the boys practiced and then did barn chores together. Life seemed great, a mild summer day with a slight breeze that carried the smell of hay and dust on it. 

*****

They laughed as they cruzed in the big grey truck with the windows down and the music blaring. “God, I love summer nights!” Josh yelled over the music.

“So do I! These are the best! Long days of riding and doing chores, and then cool nights we can enjoy,” Tyler said in agreement and smiled as the night air caressed his face. Suddenly, he reached over to turn the music down as a seemingly important thought hit him. “Really Josh, these days mean a lot to me. You’re… you’re a good friend.” He finished his sentence quietly and averted his eyes to the clock in the dash that was an hour off. Josh never remembered to change it for daylight savings. The sudden change in the mood took Josh aback. He leaned forward to turn the music all the way off, then turned to look at Tyler.

“Yeah?” Josh said quietly, continuously checking the road while keeping one eye on Tyler. “You mean a lot to me, Ty. I’m glad I have you as a friend.” These types of exchanges had always made Josh uncomfortable, as he was never one to share what was on his mind. Unfortunately for him, Tyler was. At least he was when he was with Josh.

“Thanks.” Tyler turned back in his seat and an awkward silence began to spread between them. Josh reached for the radio and turned the music back on, and they continued to drive toward Tyler’s house  
Once they reached the moderately sized beige home, Tyler opened the door of the truck and looked at Josh with brotherly love in his eyes. A mousy smile then begin to creep on his lips and his eyes lit up with a mischievous glint. “Hey, don’t forget to feed Fletch tomorrow morning, okay?” 

Josh couldn’t help but laugh. As his laughter died down, he looked at Tyler, who still had that stupid smile on his face. “I can’t forget with you reminding me every damn night!” Josh started to laugh again and Tyler laughed with him. “What do you think, I’m suffering from a memory problem?” He beamed and shook his head.

“Yep, you’re getting so old now! Gotta keep you on your toes!” Tyler smiled and winked at Josh. “Anyway, goodnight, Joshie. I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early for another day of practice.” Tyler chuckled again and then got out of the truck, waving at Josh and then closing the door. Josh stayed in the driveway until Tyler got in his house, just to make sure he was safe. He always wanted him to be safe.


	2. It was him.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _It was him, Blurryface._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I wanted to post the preface and the first chapter on the first day so I could hook ya in.   
> I hope you like it.  
> Feedback is greatly appreciated!

_Know that it wasn’t anyone's fault. It was him. Blurryface. He was taking over and there was nothing I could do anymore. So I let him. I put this letter here because it is a special spot to me. I love you, and thank you for everything. Please remember to feed Fletch, and please take take care of him for me, I know he loves you just as much as he loved me. Without you, he won’t do well. Please don’t give up on him. Don’t let him be sent away. He needs you. Continue to compete with him. Win stuff for me, okay Joshie?_  
Tell everyone else I love them.  
Happy trails.  
-Tyler Joseph 

Josh sat sobbing in his truck, holding the letter in his hands. Thankfully, he was the only one at Pine Ridge at the moment. It was 11:30 at night. “I knew he wouldn’t go without leaving something!” Josh yelled at nobody. He sniffed and wiped his eyes. 

Yesterday, Tyler Joseph took his own life at his house. As Josh headed out to do chores the next day, he decided to visit the old closet. The storage closet was sacred to him and Tyler. It used to be their base when they played tag, the house when the girls whose mom owned the appaloosa mare used to come out, and the medical center when they played army. As they grew, the closet stopped becoming a play thing and became a real safe haven. Everyone at the barn knew that the closet was something special for them, and therefore always left them alone. The boys would spend late nights in there talking about things that nobody else would talk to them about, or they felt the couldn’t share with anyone else. They had each spent many hours laughing and crying in that closet, even as they grew into young adults.

Josh chuckled as he opened the old door and looked along the walls and floor where so many memories were made. Even though they hadn’t been in there for a long time, it still smelled the same, and the same zebra blanket was in the corner under the shelf that held the foam cups. As he spotted the corner of the paper sticking out from under the blanket, hot tears began to gather behind his eyes and his throat started to close. _I knew it._ He quickly snatched both the blanket and paper up and sprinted down the stairs, out to his truck.

“I knew it! I knew something would be there!” Josh sobbed out loud and then buried his face in that special zebra blanket that had only been washed once- after Tyler threw up on it that one cold year when they both caught the stomach flu. It smelled of all the dust, tears, sweat, and memories that lingered in its no longer soft fabric. His lungs drew in the tainted air with every desperate inhale as he read the note over again and again between his sobs. “‘Feed Fletch.’ That damn horse. How can I take care of your horse, when every time I see him, I think of you?” Josh squinted his eyes shut and tears spilled out of them.

After a good hour of holding the blanket against his face and sobbing into it, Josh’s head began to hurt from exhaustion. He placed the note on the dash on Tyler’s side of the truck with a sniff, and rested his head on the steering wheel. “Dammit, kid.” He inhaled deeply and got out of the truck with another sniff. He forced his tired legs to walk down to Fletches stall, where the buckskin gelding was standing. When Fletch heard Josh walk up to the stall, he nickered a happy greeting.

“Hey. I’m glad to see you too,” Josh kissed Fletch on the nose and scratched his cheek. “But i’m not Tyler. I never will be Tyler, and i’m sorry for that.” The same hot tears began to crowd behind his eyes once more, but he fought them back. Fletch blew warm breath on Josh’s face before continuing to eat his hay. “I’ll do my best though, okay? We can try to show this season if you’d like.” As he dragged his feet to move to the stall entrance, Josh remembered that he still had the blanket in his hand. With another sniff, he unlatched the stall door, entered the stall with Fletch, and then shut the door behind him. Fletch looked up from his hay and smelled the blanket. “I know, It smells like him, doesn’t it? I like it too. That ‘Tyler’ smell I forgot even existed.”

Josh plopped himself in the corner of Fletch’s stall that never seemed to be used. The shavings were always fresh, and Fletch slept with his head in it, so the tail end never met the corner. Josh curled up into a ball and covered himself with the stiff, dusty blanket. “Just don’t step on me, okay?” He shut his eyes and immediately fell off into an exhausted sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am an equestrian myself, so if my writing begins to reflect terminology that you don't understand, or becomes too complex in the horse sense, just let me know and I will modify it.   
> Thanks for reading (:  
> Stay alive |-/


End file.
